It’s an increasing problem for media practitioners: how do we tell the difference between new technologies/brands/products/platforms that  are short-term fads, and those that will establish themselves as long-term staples of our lifestyles and cultures. To help us all do this, I propose the Loch Ness monster test. On May 2 1933, 82 years ago last…

The Millennials have been called the unluckiest generation by some.  They have been written off as a feckless generation by others.  (Interestingly including by millennials themselves but they’d like to point out that it is not their fault). The Economist Group on the other hand disagrees and believes that the future is very positive for…

TLDR “Too long, didn’t read”. Microsoft’s Chief Envisioning Officer Dave Coplin swept into our offices this month to remind us that behind every bit of tech there’s a human being.   He described the symptoms of the Digital Deluge on the average human, one of which is that you can’t manage to concentrate on anything…

Nicola Mendelsohn of Facebook, speaking at last month’s Guardian Changing Media Summit, where she was described as the “most powerful media figure” in Europe, laid out the company’s vision for an “immersive, visual based web that makes communications easier in an increasingly frantic world”.   Marketing Magazine said that Nicola claimed that the growth of…

The first and only casting session I ever attended was for the Ajax Houseproud Hunk.  I’d been involved in every stage of the pitch and idea.  The product was for a new cleaning variant that meant that there was no residue after you sprayed your kitchen surface and wiped – there was no need to…

As Thinkbox have often pointed out to us we love talking about TV.  TV shows are still cultural glue for the nation.  Against all doom laden predictions from a decade ago we are still watching lots of TV and we love to talk about it.  Thinkbox write : “The advent of multi-screening has seen TV…

As I write this the latest salvo in the great British TV election debate saga is a thorough telling off from Nick Clegg.   Clegg’s accused the PM of “faffing”.  He said “Honestly my head is spinning with all the proposals and counter proposals, and the insults and the counter insults.”  Poor Mr Clegg. His…

Content is a growth industry.  Speaking recently to the Sunday Times ITV’s Adam Crozier said “The demand for content has never been higher.  It’s a $50bn market globally growing at 5-6% a year.  Whether you started life as a fixed telephony company, a mobile provider or an Internet company what differentiates you is what content…

Strategy is an overused word.  Frequently mixed up with tactics.  I’ve only ever come across one person who calls himself a tactician in the ad trade and that’s Dave Trott in his brilliant book Predatory Thinking. Lets face it that’s not bad company to be in.   In Good Strategy Bad Strategy author Richard Rumelt…

What links UK, Estonia, Israel, New Zealand and South Korea? The clue I think lies in the latter country’s digital reputation as these nations make up the D5, the most advanced digital governments countries in the world.  The Digital 5, is a network of leading digital governments with the goal of strengthening the digital economy.…

There’s an important issue that has been raised by many at the forefront of innovation.  The pace of change is naturally becoming even faster.  At the GDS Sprint 15 conference Martha Lane Fox said that breathlessness wasn’t enough to categorise the pace of change to come.  “We’ll be panting” she said.   The issue is…

I was surprised to hear the old chestnut of media agencies separating from creative agencies being painted by someone as, well I can only say “separatism”.  They bemoaned the split between content and context.   Well, I think content and context are flourishing nicely arm in arm on most client business.   It may be…